Welcome to the world of Jenniffer Wardell, author of “Beast Charming," "Fairy Godmothers, Inc," "Fighting Sleep" and more. It's a place where fantasy runs smack into reality (after which they both exchange business cards and hope no one calls the insurance company). Perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and Mercedes Lackey's "500 Kingdoms" series.

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Friday, October 26, 2012

A Handbook for Supervillains: No Capes

This is your competition in Cleveland.
Give up now. cleveland.about.com

So You Want To Rule The World

No Capes, or Edna Mode Was Right

When
creating your villainous look, one of the greatest temptations besetting those
starting into the evil life is the cape. Whether you’re fighting a costumed
crusader or styling yourself as the evil overlord of your Eastern European country of choice,
it’s easy to imagine yourself sweeping aside some long black cloak as you order
someone executed or cackle about how you have the hero in your clutches. (Note:
Many of those cape/cloak fantasies probably include revealing your evil plan to
the hero, just so you can bask in how clever you are. A later chapter will
discuss why this is in fact one of the dumbest things you, as a villain, can
do.)

Fight
this temptation, young evildoer. Capes are a relic of a bygone era, and will
not only limit your flexibility as a villain but also hamper you should worst
come to worst and you end up in a fistfight. A flunkie who has designs on your
power can also easily take you out if you hamper yourself with a large sweep of
fabric attached to your neck. Though you can find ways around it – electricity sticks
are a fun choice, and can be adapted to match any color scheme – why open yourself up to the possibility? If
you’d like, you can electrocute them anyway and not worry about your life being
at risk.

Beyond
the practical applications, capes also add an element of cheesiness to your
villainous persona that will inevitably limit the kind of heroes you attract
and your ability to terrify the greatest possible swath of the populace.
Dracula used to be terrifying, peering over his cape as he hypnotized innocent
women into baring their necks, but these days his classic profile is little
more than a parody or a kids’ cereal mascot. Loki can get away with it, but anyone else who wanted to do the same thing would also have to rant like a mad god, which can get tiring.Capes – especially fur capes,
which are the kiss of death unless you happen to have wandered into a medieval
fantasy world – are no longer terrifying to modern audiences. Don’t let
yourself become a relic, or if you do at least do something fun to get there
like attempting to steal the moon.